SMS inquiry and invitation distribution method and system

ABSTRACT

The invention is an SMS distribution method for inquiries, invitations and proposals in which inquiries are sent to mobile telephone numbers included in a distribution list and their replies are collected as text messages via the SMS service ( 7 ) provided by the telecommunications network by means of a software program ( 1 ) installed on a server ( 2 ). The problem in distributing inquiries with existing SMS services has been the limited possibility of replying to the sending telecommunications operator and separating replies to several inquiries from one another. In the method embodied by this invention, universally reachable mobile network numbers ( 11 ) are used as reply addresses for the inquiries, invitations and proposals, and replies are separated from one another by means of reply addresses consisting of public mobile communication network numbers and SMS service numbers and automatically generated reply symbols.

This invitation relates to the distribution of inquiries, invitationsand proposals by means of an SMS service (Short Message Service) in atelecommunications network. The terms inquiry, invitation and proposalare used interchangeably in the current patent application and also tomean a message or a sequence of messages to which replies are expectedin general. Thus, the current patent application is not limited to theSMS distribution of inquiries, invitations and proposals but apply alsoto requests, queries, questionnaires, surveys, calls, etc.

Typical to the method is that a) inquiries are sent and replied to andthe replies received using the SMS service, b) the same inquiry isdistributed to one or more persons, c) the replies of one or morepersons are accepted from those replying to the inquiry, d) multipleinquiries can be active simultaneously and activated by separateinquirers, e) the inquirers can activate multiple individual inquirieswith multiple individual distributions.

Typically also the inquiries are sent according to a distribution list,an inquiry is defined a start time when it will be sent and a deadlineuntil which the replies received will be accepted, the distribution willbe active from the start time until the deadline or until all questionshave been answered, and sent inquiries and questions are active untilthe deadline or until they have been answered. The start time can havethe current time as a default, meaning typically immediate distribution.A question in a particular inquiry typically, but not necessarily, issent after a reply to the previous question has been received.

Traditional methods for inquiries, such as mail, telephone, e-mail orInternet, are inefficient and ineffective because 1) response ratessuffer from the excessive effort involved in replying, 2) respondingdoes not often produce a fast outcome because of the excessive effortinvolved in handling responses, and 3) useful inquiries are notconducted, because 4) they are expensive and the results uncertain.

Existing inquiry methods based on SMS services include patent proceedingWO02/33991, where questions are sent one by one as a text message froman SMS service number ordered from an operator to a replier groupselected according to demographic or geographic criteria, and typicallythe reply address is this same SMS service number in order to allowreplying using the “reply to the sender” functionality of the mobilephone without having to type the number.

Existing SMS inquiry methods include the following weaknesses: 1) Theyare difficult to use in situations where the same replier should replyto several ongoing inquiries, as the inquiries cannot be distinguishedfrom each other without typing identifiers to the reply messages, thusresulting in a lower response rate; 2) Without identifiers within replymessages it is labour intensive to interpret afterwards to whichdistribution belong the replies to a specific reply address, which makesit difficult to apply distribution-specific pricing and billing, forexample according to the size of the distribution or the number ofreplies received; 3) Replying to the SMS service numbers typically isonly possible from the mobile numbers served by those operators fromwhom the SMS service number in question has been ordered or who has aroaming agreement for SMS service numbers with that operator; 4)Replying to a domestic SMS service number is in general not possiblefrom abroad or from foreign mobile numbers; 5) The SMS service numberhas to be ordered separately from each operator or from an integratingservice provider; 6) If replying to an inquiry is to be made free, atoll-free SMS service number must be used, which involves the problemsdescribed above.

The object of the present invention is to remove the weaknesses involvedin the SMS inquiry methods mentioned above by providing a method wherebya replier can reply to several ongoing inquiries in such a way thattyping a single letter, number or symbol found in the mobile device isrequired in the reply message and at the same time: 1) inquiries andinvitations can be distributed in practice to almost all GSM networksand to the mobile numbers of all GSM networks without operatoragreements, or alternatively, b) free reply messages to domesticrepliers can be provided using toll-free SMS service numbers. An SMSinquiry and invitation distribution method that is easier to use and hasmore universal reachability compared to traditional methods provides asignificant improvement in the effectiveness of inquiry processes.

This objective can be achieved by means of an SMS distribution methodand system for inquiries based on the present patent application, whichcan be implemented using current technology.

By means of the invention a customer organisation utilising the SMSinquiry distribution method can efficiently and effectively carry outcustomer inquiries and personnel satisfaction surveys, service levelmeasurements, invitations to jobs, emergency calls, and other inquiries,invitations and proposals. The method is easy for the replier to usebecause it requires typing a single character to the reply message at asuitable moment, either at the normal text message price defined by thereplier's mobile connection subscription terms, or for free if atoll-free SMS service number is paid for by the customer organisation.The customer organisation can keep track of the replies over thetelecommunications network using a WWW browser, by downloadingelectronic reply reports, and/or by using a communications interface andtheir own computer system.

The present invention is based on the idea that 1) different replyaddresses can be set for different distributions of inquiries andinquiries sent to the same mobile number and 2) in formulating inquiriesas multiple choice questions (with one to several reply alternatives)reply alternatives can automatically be given different choice symbolsbased on which replies to different inquiries from the same replier tothe same reply address can be separated from one another (matchingreplies with right questions) and 3) by optionally not sending a newquestion before a reply to a previous question has been received,successive questions can share the same reply address as the order ofreplies is set by default. Based on the situation and application, replyaddresses or choice symbols to reply alternatives as identifiers can beset for the distribution, the inquiry, and the questions within theinquiry. For example, the method can be used to improve the expecteddelivery times of reply messages by setting reply addresses according totheir expected load. The method can also guarantee the authenticity ofreplies by making reply addresses represent a reply address seriesidentifying the inquiry and the replier.

In the following the invention is described according to the attacheddrawings.

FIG. 1: FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a preferred embodiment of the method

FIG. 2: FIG. 2 presents a view of an inquiry based on the method

FIG. 3: FIG. 3 shows a distribution flow chart based on the method

FIG. 4: FIG. 4 explains the terms of FIG. 3

In FIG. 1 of the preferred embodiment of the method the central logic ofthe distribution of inquiries is in the Inquiry and InvitationDistribution program (1), hereinafter referred to as Software, which isinstalled on a Distribution Server (2). A customer designs a new inquiry(5) or invitation (6) in a format suitable for the SMS service (7) usingthe Software with a WWW browser (3) over a telecommunications network(4) or transfers it to the Software from the customer's system (8),defines a distribution list (9), a sending time and a deadline for theinquiry and activates it. A customer can define the distribution listand edit it with the Software or he/she can transfer it to the Softwarefrom the customer's system over the telecommunications network.Inquiries and invitations are saved in the database (10). The Softwareautomatically sets the reply addresses (11) for the distribution amongthose available, and further from those, according to the situation, thereply addresses (12), i.e. the sender addresses (13) shown in the mobiledevice, to which the replies will be routed, for the inquiry sent to themobile devices. In practice the reply addresses are a pool (15) ofpublic mobile communication network numbers and/or SMS service numbersdefined in the SMS Server (14).

When SMS service numbers are used as reply addresses, replies will betransferred from the operators providing the SMS service numbers and themobile connections of the recipients (21) to the SMS Server (14) overthe telecommunications network (18).

If enough reply addresses are available, each active distribution can begiven its own set of reply addresses, and also separate questions in aninquiry can be given different reply addresses, for example for securityor performance reasons. If different reply addresses are not availablefor each active distribution, different reply addresses can be given forthose inquiries and/or their questions that are targeting the samemobile number, or alternatively different reply choice symbols given fordistributions, inquiries within distributions and/or separate questionswithin inquiries correspondingly. The advantages of using differentchoice symbols instead of different reply addresses are the savings inthe number of reply addresses required, and the identification ofreplies on the mobile device to questions of the same inquiry based onthe reply address and choice symbols makes replying and the managementof replies easier for the replier. The Software (1) sends the activateddistribution to the mobile numbers (16) in the distribution list at theset start time via the SMS Server (14) either a) through the SMS gateway(17) functionality of the SMS Server over an IP connection (18) to theSMS service of the sending telecommunications operator (19), or b) bymeans of the GSM modems of the SMS Server as SMS messages to the mobilenetwork(s) of the mobile operator(s) (20) providing the modems' mobileconnections. The replier answers the questions using the reply to thesender functionality by sending a text message to the reply address viathe SMS service of the mobile operator (21) of the mobile device.Replying to an inquiry is easy, because it contains one or more choicequestions that can be answered by typing (or by selecting on somedevices) only the choice symbol for the chosen reply alternative,typically a letter or a number. The Software saves the replies to adatabase where they are stored for a defined time. Replies receivedafter the deadline of the distribution are discarded. After a reply hasbeen received from everybody on the distribution list, or after thedeadline has been reached, the Software produces a distribution reportthat can downloaded over the telecommunications network to thecustomer's computer, read with a WWW browser or like, or printed to aprinter. Replies can also be monitored in realtime over thetelecommunications network with a WWW browser or like, and they can alsobe transferred to the customer's system. The Software can be set toperform the distribution to the whole distribution list at once or tosend to one mobile number at a time until a set number of replies hasbeen received.

In a significant alternative embodiment of the invention the publicmobile communication network numbers are implemented in the SMS serviceinfrastructure of the sending operator (19) instead of a GSM modem poolassociated with the SMS Server (14), from where the replies aretransferred to the SMS Server (14) over the telecommunications network(18).

This method allows also those kinds of multiple choice questions towhich more than one reply alternative can be chosen. In this case theSoftware matches replies to questions, as with single choice questions,but saves and/or forwards to a customer application a number of choicesymbols of the reply message instead of just one. This way additionalreply alternatives, for example, can be added to questions as securitychecks or for authentication purposes.

The selection of using reply addresses vs. choice symbols for matchingreplies to questions does not have to be in this order, i.e. theselection of choice symbols can pre-cede the selection of replyaddresses, and the method does not require the use of reply addressesfor matching replies to questions.

FIG. 2 presents the use of choice symbols in the reply alternatives forchoice questions in the distributions according to a preferredembodiment of the method. If a mobile number is included in more thanone active distribution (22, 22′) with a same reply address and/or withunanswered questions having a same reply address at the same time, thedistributions have different choice symbols (23,23′) in at least forthat mobile number in order to match the replies from that mobile numberto the right distribution and question. The replier can reply to allquestions as easily by using the reply to sender functionality (24) ofthe mobile device and typing (or selecting with a pointer device on somedevices) the choice symbol (25,25′) of the chosen reply alternative tothe reply message. In the method the reply received can be matched withthe right question by means of the symbol acting as a separator withouthaving to interpret the semantic meaning of the reply.

FIG. 3 presents a flow chart of the method. It shows the distribution ofan inquiry to a mobile number in the distribution list and receivingreplies to sent questions in the inquiry. Each question message can beassociated with instructions or other messages that are not presented inthe chart with the exception of the end message. The questions in theinquiry form a decision tree structure so that the inquiry branches if afollowing question to a question is selected based on the choice symbolreceived in the reply message. In phase 1 the distribution isinitialised by defining its reply addresses A(J) from those availableand choice symbols V(J) for the reply alternatives of the choicequestions from those choice symbols available. In phase 2 the sending ofthe inquiry to a mobile number in the distribution list is initialisedby selecting for the inquiry a reply address a_(i) from available replyaddresses A(J), choice symbols v_(i) from available choice symbols V(J),by initialising the question pointer i and counters s and r for the sentand received messages, respectively. In phase 3 a question message ofthe inquiry is sent to the mobile number, the sent messages counter s isincremented, and the sending time T_(s) is saved. In phase 4 a reply tothe question sent is received, the received messages counter rincremented and the receiving time T_(r) is saved into the database. Inphase 5 verification checks are made, in phase 5a it is checked whetherthe reply has been received in the reply address active for the mobilenumber or not, in phases 5b, 5c and 5d the next question is decided andprogressed via phases 6a or 6b to phase 7 or the ending phase 8 of theinquiry, in phase 5e a reply that does not contain an active symbol forthe mobile number can be requested again and return to phase 4. In phase7 a new reply address can be set for the next question, for example forsecurity or performance reasons, or new choice symbols for matchingreplies. All questions do not necessarily have to be choice questions,and some questions can allow free text as a reply, for example. In thismethod these kinds of questions will get a distribution-specific replyaddress.

In the application example 1 of the method a car dealer carries out acustomer satisfaction survey and a repair service satisfaction inquiry.The car dealer first transfers a file containing the distribution listto the system implemented according to the method, designs questions forcustomer satisfaction survey using a WWW browser, sets the start timeand the deadline and activates the survey. The car dealer next transfersa file containing the distribution list according to the method, designsquestions for the repair service satisfaction inquiry using a WWWbrowser, sets the start time and deadline and activates the inquiry. Thesoftware based on the method automatically defines the reply address forthe mobile numbers in the distribution list for the customersatisfaction survey and also the choice symbols. Correspondingly, thesoftware defines the reply address for the mobile numbers in thedistribution list for the service satisfaction inquiry and also thechoice symbols. If the same mobile numbers are included in thedistribution lists, inquiries sent to those are given different replyaddresses. If all possible reply addresses for a mobile number arealready in use, different inquiry or question-specific choice symbolsfor the reply alternatives are sent to that mobile number. Separatereply address groups can be defined for repair service satisfactioninquiries and customer satisfaction surveys, which makes theidentification of different inquiries easier for the replier and enablespricing variations according to the reply address. Inquiries can alsoinclude messages that do not require a reply.

In the application example 2 of the method a hospital carries out apersonnel satisfaction survey to certain personnel groups and anemergency alarm in a catastrophe situation to persons off duty. Thehospital transfers a file containing a distribution list to the systemimplemented according to the method, designs the questions and sets thestart time and the deadline for the personnel satisfaction survey andactivates the survey. The hospital transfers the list of persons offduty in a catastrophe situation to the system according to the method,activates a predefined and automatically updated message sequence forthe emergency alarm using a WWW browser or by sending a text message toa number in the system, for example. The software based on the methodautomatically defines reply addresses and the choice symbols from thoseavailable for the mobile numbers in the distribution list of thepersonnel satisfaction survey. Correspondingly, the software defines thereply addresses and the choice symbols from those available for themobile numbers in the distribution list for the emergency alarm. If thesame mobile numbers are included in both distribution lists, a differentreply address from that of the customer satisfaction survey is definedfor the emergency alarm sent to those numbers. If all possible replyaddresses for the distribution are already in active use, the emergencyalarm message sent to the mobile number is given emergencyalarm/question-specific choice symbols for the reply alternatives.Separate reply address groups can be defined for customer satisfactionsurveys and emergency alarms, which makes the separation of surveys andalarms easier for the replier and enables different pricing. Inquiriesand alarms can also include messages that do not require a reply.

In the application example 3 of the method a dentist reminds patientsabout their annual dental care needs and proposes appointment times. Apatient gets an appointment proposal as a text message with timealternatives to choose from by replying with a choice symbolrepresenting the chosen time alternative. If the same patient needsother appointment times as well, for example for children, a differentset of choice symbols will be generated for each subsequent unansweredappointment time inquiry for separating the inquiries from one anotherand enabling the matching of replies to right appointment timeproposals.

In the application example 4 of the method a recruitment agency invitescandidates to new job assignments. For an assignment the agency sendsinvitations to a distribution list of potential employees as textmessages with reply alternatives, for example “Yes” and “No thanks”.According to the method the “Yes” alternative will be attached a choicesymbol “A” and “No thanks” alternative a choice symbol “B”. At the sametime there is another assignment to be filled and the agency sends acorresponding invitation to its distribution list of potentialemployees. It happens that there are some candidates on bothdistribution lists. The method automatically generates another set ofchoice symbols for reply alternatives for a second invitation that issent to the same mobile number as the first invitation, if the firstinvitation has not yet been replied to by that person. Thus the “Yes”alternative gets a choice symbol “C” and the “No thanks” alternativegets a choice symbol “D” in the second invitation on those mobiledevices that have received the invitation to the first assignment withchoice symbols “A” and “B” and who have not yet replied to thatinvitation. In the receiving end the software automatically matches “C”and “D” replies with the second invitation and “A” and “B” replies withthe first invitation.

In the application example 5 of the method a service provider runs anSMS inquiry distribution service using the method for matching repliesfrom mobile numbers with the right applications and customers, such asin the examples 1.4 above, with the right distributions, with the rightinquiries/invitations and with the right questions.

The application areas and applications of the present invention andsolutions based on the present invention are not limited to thosedescribed above. In addition to inquiries, invitations and proposals theinvention can be applied, for example, as a process measurement method,in field force task allocation, service delivery inquiries, remindersand cancellations, and permission requests. The method can beimplemented, for example, as an SMS distribution service, as an SMSdistribution system or as an SMS distribution functionality integratedwith other systems.

1. A method for distributing inquiries to one or more recipients andreceiving replies in a telecommunications network by means of a ShortMessage Service (SMS), wherein questions in the inquiries are designedin a format suitable for the SMS service, each inquiry is sent to one ormore persons per distribution according to a distribution list, andreplies to an inquiry are accepted during a specified active time of thedistribution, the method comprising: a) initializing, by a distributionserver, a distribution by defining reply addresses for the questions inthe inquiry from those available for the distribution wherein the replyaddresses comprises public mobile communication network numbers or SMSservice numbers, to which the replies will be routed, b) sending, by thedistribution server, each question as a text message to a mobile numberin the distribution list in wherein the reply address is shown to thereplier as the sender, and wherein one or multiple active questions aresent to a mobile device with the same reply address, wherein at leastone question in the inquiry is a choice question containing one or morereply alternatives with the reply choice being a letter, a number oranother symbol available in a reply functionality of the mobile device,c) replying, by mobile devices, to questions wherein replies toquestions are received as text messages, wherein the replies do notinclude the question identifier, d) verifying the correctness of thereplies wherein each of the replies is matched with a question based onthe replier's mobile number and either the reply address and the choicesymbol in the reply or the choice symbol in the reply, wherein thechoice symbols are automatically selected among available choice symbolswherein any mobile number receiving multiple questions with a same replyaddress will be provided with a unique non-overlapping set of differentchoice symbols for each separate active question.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein different choice symbols for the replyalternatives are dynamically selected from available choice symbols forthe mobile number for separate questions in the same inquiry.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising deciding the nextquestion for one or more questions in the inquiry based on the choicesymbol received as the reply.
 4. The method according to claim 1,further comprising sending a question again, in case no reply isreceived within a time frame defined or, the reply is not the choicesymbol used in the reply alternatives.
 5. The method according to claim1, further comprising stopping the inquiry after a defined number ofrepliers have replied to the inquiry.
 6. The method according to claim1, further comprising saving replies related to a distribution into adatabase from where they can be monitored in realtime using a webbrowser, or transferred to a computer system of a customer via atelecommunications connection.
 7. The method according to claim 1,further comprising defining separate reply addresses group for differenttype of inquiries and applying pricing variation according to replyaddress.
 8. An inquiry and invitation system comprising: a distributionserver connected to a telecommunication network, a database, and a ShortMessage Service (SMS) server; wherein the distribution server has aninquiry and invitation distribution software installed; wherein theinquiry and invitation distribution software performs the method ofclaim 1 when executed by the distribution server.
 9. A method fordistributing inquiries to one or more recipients and receiving repliesin a telecommunications network by means of a Short Message Service(SMS), wherein questions in the inquiries are designed in a formatsuitable for the SMS service, each inquiry is sent to one or morepersons per distribution according to a distribution list, and repliesto an inquiry are accepted during a specified active time of thedistribution, the method comprising: a) initializing, by a distributionserver, a distribution by defining reply addresses for the questions inthe inquiry from those available for the distribution wherein the replyaddresses comprises public mobile communication network numbers or SMSservice numbers, to which the replies will be routed, wherein thedefining reply addresses for the questions in the inquiry comprisesselecting the reply addresses for a distribution according to theexpected reply traffic volume so that the performance criteria set forthe replies will be met, b) sending, by the distribution server, eachquestion as a text message to a mobile number in the distribution listin wherein the reply address is shown to the replier as the sender, andwherein one or multiple active questions are sent to a mobile devicewith the same reply address, wherein at least one question in theinquiry is a choice question containing one or more reply alternativeswith the reply choice being a letter, a number or another symbolavailable in a reply functionality of the mobile device, c) replying, bymobile devices, to questions wherein replies to questions are receivedas text messages, wherein the replies do not include the questionidentifier, d) verifying the correctness of the replies wherein each ofthe replies is matched with a question based on the replier's mobilenumber and either the reply address and the choice symbol in the replyor the choice symbol in the reply, wherein the choice symbols areautomatically selected among available choice symbols wherein any mobilenumber receiving multiple questions with a same reply address will beprovided with a unique non-overlapping set of different choice symbolsfor each separate active question.